Hydraulic-control head closure



March 11, L930- s. SBRADSHAW ET AL 1,750,211

HYDRAULIC CONTROL HEAD CLOSURE Filed April 14, 1928 2 shts sheet 1Inventory March 11, 1930. as. BRADSHAW ET AL 1,750,211

HYDRAULIC CONTROL HEAD CLOSURE Filed April 14, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Inventor;

Byg mw/ iwy Attornqy l atented Mar. 11, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICESAMUEL S. BRADSHAW AND CHARLES ALBERT MARTINDALE, OF SEMINOLE, OKLAHOMAHYDRAULIC-CONTROL HEAD CLOSURE Application filed April 14,

The present invention relates to deep well apparatus. As is well known,high pressure oil and gas strata are encountered in deep wells duringvarious stages of operations and the high pressures frequently result inthe blowing out of a string of tools or pump apparatus in the well withserious damage to the well structure and to the surrounding property andwith great danger to the operatives.

Furthermore, fires frequently arise and considerable di'tliculty isexperienced in cutting off the admission of air to the well casing. Itis therefore one of the principal objects of the present invention toprovide a means for effecting the actuation of the closure plugassociated with the head on the upper end of the casing. A salientobject of the present invention resides in the provision of a mechanismfor effecting the closing of the plug by a fluid under pressure, saidmech anism including a spur gear that is operative ly associated withthe stem of the rotary plug arranged in the head of the casing, asliding rack bar having meshing engagement with the teeth of the spurgear and being operable by a piston rod that carries a piston which isreciprocably mounted in a cylinder, said cylinder being provided withfluid inlet openings at the respective ends thereof to effect themovement of thepiston in opposite directions to open and close the plug.A further object of the invention is to provide a hydraulic control headclosure which is simple in construction, inexpensive, strong and durableand further well adapted to the purposes for which it is designed.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent during the course ofthe following description.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, andin which like numerals indicate like parts throughout the same:

Figure 1 is an elevational view in section of the hydraulic control headclosure constituting our invention showing the manner in which the sameis associated with the upper portion of the well casing, and

Figure 2 is a similar view taken at right 1928. Serial No. $270,046.

angles to Figure 1 for more clearly disclosing the cooperating toothedrack and spur gear.

In the drawings wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown thepreferred embodiment of our invention, the numeral 1 designatesgenerally the pit or working chamber constructed in the ground aroundthe upper end of the well and extending through the bottom of the pit isthe upper end of the well casing 2. The upper end of the casing hasarranged thereon the usual head 3 within which is arranged the rotatableplug 4, the operating stem of which is shown at 5 in Figure 1. Usually awrench or other similar tool is arranged on the operating stem formoving the closure plug either to an open or closed position and byreason of the operator having to actuate the closure plug at a pointadjacent the head 3, the operator is placed in a dangerous position incase of tire and should an attempt be made to close the plug during thehappening of such a con tingency, there is a possibility of the operatorbecoming burned; We have therefore devised a means for facilitating theactuation of this closure plug from a distant point and in a safe andpositive manner whenever an emergency arises or in fact at any time whenit is desired to either open or close the upper end of the casing of anoil or gas well.

Our improved mechanism includes a relatively large spur gear that issecured on the outer end of the stem 5 associated with the rotatableplug 4 for rotation therewith and an annular flange 7 is associated withthe body of the gear inwardly of the teeth 8 for a purpose to bepresently described. The actuating mechanism further includes avertically disposed cylinder 9 that is closed at its respective ends,the lower end of the cylinder being rockably supported as at 10 on asuitable bracket 11 that is secured on a support ing base 12 arranged inthe bottom of the pit or working chamber 1. This cylinder is arrangedadjacent the upper portion of the casing 2 and the upper end thereofterminates below the casing head 3 as clearly illustrated in thedrawings. Operable within the cylinder 9 is the piston 13, the samebeing secured on the lower end of a piston rod 14 that extends upwardlythrough the closed upper end of the cylinder. A pressure fluid supplypipe 15 extends into the side of the cylinder at the lower end thereof,a similar pressure fluid supply pipe 16 extending into the side of thecylinder adjacent its upper end for supplyim a pressure fluid to act onthe piston to effect the reciprocatory movement of the same in thecylinder.

These supply pipes 15 and 16 extend from any suitable source of supplynot shown. Cooperating with the teeth 8 of the spur gear 6 are thetransverse gear teeth 17 arranged on the inner face of an elongated rackbar 18 that is slidably disposed between the casing 2 and the cylinder 9and the upper end portion of this rack bar is operatively connected tothe upper end of the piston rod as at 19 so that said rack bar will movevertically simultaneously with the movement of the piston rod during thereciprocatory movement of the piston 13 in the cylinder 9. An elongatedrod 20 is carried by the lower end of this rack bar and is slidablethrough a guide 21 carried by the lower portion of the cylinder 9 asshown very clearly in Figure 1. The upper portion of the rack bar isfurthermore guided in its sliding movementby the L-shaped bracket shownat 22, the hori- Zontal arm portion of which is in the form of a clampthat encircles the upper portion of the cylinder 9 as shown at 23 inFigure 2 and the vertical arm of the L-shaped bracket extends upwardlyfor cooperation with the outer side of the rack bar 18. This verticalportion of the bracket is slotted to accommodate the connecting meansbetween the upper end ot the piston rod and the rack bar as indicated at2 1 in Figure 2.

Carried by the upper end portion of the vertically disposed arm of theL-shapcd bracket 22 is the yoke 25 and the arms of this yoke aredisposed on opposite sides of a flanged gear 6, the free ends of thearms of the yoke being bent inwardly and thence laterally and a roller26 is carried by the inner end of each arm for engagement with the innerperipheral face of the flange 7 on each side of the gear body asindicated in Figure 1 for maintaining the gear teeth 17 in meshingengagement with the teeth 8 of the gear 6. When the piston 13 is in itslowermost position in the cylinder 9, the plug 4 is in one position.Presuming that this position is such that the plug permits the free flowof the oil or gas through the head into the outlet pipe 27 we will nowdescribe the manner in which said plug 41 is moved to a closed position.A fluid under pressure is delivered to the lower end of the cylinderthrough the supply pipe 15 and this will cause the piston 13 to moveupwardly in the cylinder and simultaneously raise the piston rod 14which action will result in the upward sliding movement of the rack bar18 and as the teeth 17 of this rack bar are in meshing engagement withthe teeth 8 of the gear body 6, said gear 6 will rotate. As this gear issecured on the outer end of the stem of the rotary plug 1, the rotaryplug will be actuated and moved to a closed position in the casing head3 In this manner, the upper end of the well casing may be closed from aremote point thereby obviating any necessity of an operator having tostand in the pit 1 and actuate the rotary plug to cut off the dischargeof the gas or oil at the top of the well casing. A safety mechanism ofthis character will at all times be positive and eflicient in itsoperation and whenever it is desired to open the upper end of thecasing, the cylinder is injected with a fluid under pressure that flowsthrough the pipe 16 so that the piston 13 will move downwardly in thecylinder and simultaneously move the rack bar 18 downwardly to actuatethe gear 6 and in turn move the closure plug 4 to a closed position. Itis 01" course to be understood that any appropriate valve mechanism maybe associated with the pressure fluid supply pipes. A hydraulic controlhead closure of the present type can be readily and easily installedwithout necessitating any material alterations of the parts of an oilwell apparatus with which said mechanism is to be associated.

While we have shown the preferred embodiment of our invention, it is tobe understood that various changes in the size, shape and arrangement ofparts may be resorted to Without departing from the spirit of theinvention and the scope of the appended claims.

hat We claim is 1. The combination with the rotary valve in a wellcasing head; of means for actuating said valve, said means comprising agear carried by the stem of said valve for rotation therewith, a toothedrack bar having meshing engagement with said gear, fluid pressureoperated means for actuating the sliding toothed rack bar, said lastmentioned means including a cylinder, a piston rod extending through oneend of the cylinder, a piston secured on the inner end of the piston rodfor reciprocatory movement in the cylinder, an operative connectionbetween the outer end of the piston rod and the sliding toothed rackbar, and fluid pressure supply pipes communicating with the respectiveends of the cylinder to control the operation of the piston therein.

2. The combination with the rotary valve in a well casing head; of meansfor actuating said valve, said means comprising a gear carried by thestem of said valve for rotation therewith, a toothed rack bar havingmeshing engagement With said gear, fluid pressure operated means foractuating the slidingtoothed rack bar, said last mentioned meansincluding a cylinder, a piston rod extending through one end of thecylinder, a piston secured on the inner end of the piston rod forreciprocatory movement in the cylinder, an operative connection betweenthe outer end of the piston rod and the sliding toothed rack bar, andfluid pressure supply pipes communicating with the respective ends ofthe cylinder to control the operation of the piston therein, and guidemeans for the slidm ing toothed rack bar.

3. The combination with the rotary plug arranged in a well casing head,the stem of said plug extending axially through one end of the head, ofmeans for turning said plug, said means comprising a flanged gear wheelsecured on the outer end of the stem for rotation with the plug, avertically disposed sliding toothed rack bar having meshing engagementwith the teeth of the gear wheel, a cylinder, a piston operable withinthe cylinder, a piston rod slidable through the upper end of thecylinder and being connected at its lower end to the piston, anoperative connection between the upper end of the piston rod and thesliding rack bar, fluid pressure supplypipes communicating with theupper and lower ends of the cylinder to actuate the piston and effectoperation of the sliding toothed rack bar to rotate the plug, guidemeans for the upper and lower ends of the rack bar, a yoke carried bythe upper guide means, and a flange engaging wheel carried by the yokefor engagement with the flange on the gear wheel.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures.

SAMUEL S. BRADSHAW. CHARLES ALBERT MARTINDALE.

